Field school group visits 2014

[mynd 1 h]Amongst other tasks, the University Centre offers assistance to foreign universities in organizing field school stays in the Westfjords. Most groups come from universities in the US or Canada and some have become regulars with the Centre. Next summer we are looking forward to welcoming four groups, one of them on its first visit.

The month of June will be rather busy with two groups. Our first guest, a group from the School for International Traning (SIT)/World Learning, in Vermont, USA, is with this eighth visit one of our regulars. These students do a near summer-long programme Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics which is taught entilrey in Iceland, with three out of six weeks spent in the Westfjords. Apart from studies in their own field of science these groups get language instruction as this is an important part of all SIT/World Learning study abroad programmes. In order to enable the students to deepen their language studies homestays are offered during the first two weeks here, an arrangement which has been very well appreciated by these young guests as well as their hosting families.

[mynd 2 h]The second group that the Centre will welcome in June is the only newcomer scheduled for 2014 and comes from the Department of Nordic Studies of the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany. The group will on a one-week visit to Iceland but will spend four days in our region.

Our ‚old friends‘, the Icelandic Field School of the Icelandic Dept. of the University of Manitoba, Canada will be returning in July. The Icelandic department is unique in North America, chaired by Dr. Birna Bjarnadóttir who has been responsible for this field school since the start in 2007. These students study medieval and contemporary culture in Iceland, and in addition to lectures by scholars, Icelandic writers, poets, and visual artists are invited to class to give readings and performances. Visits to museums and other cultural institutions are also part of their programme.

[mynd 3 h]The field school summer will conclude in August as a third group of students from the University of Washington lead by Academic Director Dr. Phillip Thurtle arrives These students are enrolled in the CHID (Comparative History of Ideas) Summer Program in Iceland, a cross-disciplinary study program, which emphasizes the relationship between humans and nature. The students will also get some language instruction during their ten-day stay in the region.

The Centre is looking forward to a busy field school summer next year and welcomes field school guests, regulars as well as newcomers.

For information on summer schools please visit our webpage. If you are interested in bringing a field school group to the Westfjords and wold like to discuss ideas contact Pernilla Rein Project Manager pernilla(at)uwestfjords.is to discuss ideas.